Buckle plate



Nov. 13, 1934. E. STAHL 1,980,362

BUCKLE PLATE Filed March 7, 1932 FRANK E.STAHL A; attorney 5 Patented Nov. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUCKLE PLATE Application March 7, 1932, Serial No. 597,214

1 Claim.

This invention relates to fastening means and particularly to such as employ a strap of leather or other flexible material and a buckle plate to attach, for example, an emergency cross chain to an automobile wheel.

In practice much strain is oftentimes imposed on the strap in such devices and it soon becomes worn or ruptured. Such straps are usually of leather which is quite expensive.

The object of the present invention is to provide a buckle plate so constructed that the contacts and strains on the strap are borne principally by metallic parts. The strap portion can therefore be made of a material cheaper than leather, as for example rubberized fabric or a suitable substitute for leather.

The invention is embodied in the example herein shown and set forth, the features of novelty being finally claimed.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure l is a cross section of a rubber tire having the invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a View of one of the end members supporting the cross chains, such member being that shown at the left hand side of Fig. l and containing the buckle for the strap.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line IIIIII Fig. 2 on a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a view of the plain plate or end member for holding the cross chain shown at the right hand side of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the buckle plate best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 with the pivoted tongue omitted.

In Fig. 1, the character 5 designates the tire casing, and 6 the felly.

The cross or tread chains designated '7, 'l, are each provided with a hook 8 at its opposite ends that engage the plain plate 9 and the buckle plate 10, by means of spaced eyes in said plates.

The strap 11 is permanently engaged at one end by riveting an engaging loop with a bar formed by an eye 12 in the plain plate while the free end of the strap is passed under the felly and through an opening 13, engaged with a pivoted tongue 14 and then passed under an offset keeper 15 in the upper part of the buckle plate 10. The lower end of the buckle plate 10 is provided with a rectangular opening through which the strap is passed and the upper wall of said opening is cut with an upwardly extending slot 19 bridged by a bar 18 on which the tongue 14 is pivoted. The lower bar of the buckle plate is provided with a roller 16 and the upper edge of the plate 10 forming said rectangular opening 13 is beveled upwardly and outwardly as shown at 13 in the direction which the strap stands when connected with the tongue so as to present a flat inclined bearing for the grommet.

The strap is provided with a series of stout metallic grommets 1'7 of such size that when the strap is engaged with the tongue passed through the grommet the latter bears flatly against the inclined or beveled surface 13 and tangentially on the roller so that at all points the contacts are metallic and the strap itself relieved of any abrasive effects by reason of the buckle and tongue engagement. By reason of the inclined surface 13 the grommet stands firmly supported at right angles to the tongue 14 but inclined upward to the plane of the plate 10 so that a sharp bend in the flexible material of the strap is obviated.

Because of the construction herein shown and described the strap can be made of less expensive material than leather and the longevity of the strap increased.

The forms of the parts can be changed without departing from the gist of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

In a fastening of the kind described, a buckle plate having an opening to receive the free end of a grommeted strap, the upper wall forming said opening being inclined upwardly and outwardly in respect to the plane of the plate and said wall having extended upwardly therefrom a slot, said plate being apertured a short distance beyond the slot so as to provide a bridge between the slot and aperture, a tongue pivotally supported on said bridge, said upper wall constituting a bearing for one side of the grommet while the strap is engaged with said tongue and the lower wall of said opening constituting a support for the opposite side of said grommet.

FRANK E. STAHL. 

